Two Extension Courses Cover "The Nightly News"

While some Extension School courses study topics that have intrigued people for over 2,000 years (see article on the classics), other courses examine questions that are slightly more topical. The Starr Report was released to Congress, and to the public via the Internet, three days before the first class meetings of GOVT E-1349 Congressional Oversight: The White House and LSTU E-120 Cyberlaw and Society. Both courses cover, by accident as much as by design, issues that are "smack in the middle of the nightly news," according to instructor Robert B. Charles.

Robert B. Charles

Mr. Charles, Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Subcommittee on National Security, Internal Affairs, and Criminal Justice, United States House of Representatives, commutes from Washington every Monday night to teach the two courses, and his students praise his enthusiasm and the unique perspective that his "day job" enables him to bring to his evening courses. Charles explains that the common thread between the two courses is that they address cutting-edge political and social issues in "real time, that is, while the events are still unfolding and the full impact is known only from the perspective afforded by what little time has passed--or by reference to historical events." He continues, "The good news is that each class is immediately relevant to the world in which we all live, students have a hands-on knowledge of the issues, and there are constant reminders of how history lays down trail markers for future events. The bad news is that one is never quite sure how history will remember the Monica Lewinskys of today's news, or whether subsequent waves of technology will, after all, wash away the sandcastles erected on today's technology beachhead."

Charles's plan for the congressional oversight course, which covers 14 different investigations, including counter-terrorism, the Waco hearings, and Department of Defense overruns, remains the same, but the order of discussion has undergone some changes. As a result of the impeachment hearings, Charles now spends a bit of each class on the latest developments in Washington, and he hopes to bring in some former Watergate personalities as guest lecturers. Similarly, the John Glenn flight sparked new interest in space exploration and Charles invited Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 pilot and the second man to walk on the moon, to speak to the class about his vision of increasing the number of civilians in space and establishing a manned presence on the moon and Mars.

Barry Smith

The cyberlaw course began with encryption and moved on through privacy to the First Amendment, the Communications Decency Act, and pornography on the Internet as Charles has attempted to work his way through "the technical, legal, and philosophical contours of a landscape that is largely unmapped." He invited the head of the FBI's Electronics and Encryption Division, Barry Smith, to demonstrate encryption of cellphones and Internet transmissions, and to engage in what he described as some "healthy give-and-take" with the students. Other topics will include digital copyright, national security issues, the year 2,000 problem, computer-related crime, pending federal legislation, and, no doubt, whatever the nightly news has in store.

Teaching in "real time" has its challenges, but students appreciate the rewards of "learning things the newspapers don't even know yet." Harry Miller, ALB candidate, says, "This course is terrific. It is thought provoking and timely. Our resource materials are only weeks, sometimes only hours, old." ALB candidate Kristine Colarossi agrees: "We learn about Washington events as they happen. This course makes me proud that I have chosen government as a concentration and a career. Mr. Charles makes you want to get involved, to think about public service as a life goal."

Robert B. Charles, Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Subcommittee on National Security, Internal Affairs, and Criminal Justice, United States House of Representatives, teaches two timely courses this semester, Congressional Oversight: The White House and Cyberlaw and Society.

Barry Smith, the head of the FBI's Electronics and Encryption Division, demonstrated encryption of cellphones and Internet transmissions during a session of Cyberlaw and Society.